August 29, 2017 AT 12:00 pm

Teaching Kids Coding, by the Book #MakerEducation

One sunny summer morning this month, a group of 20 teenage girls gathered in a conference room in the sleek offices of a tech company in Manhattan. It was their fifth week of coding camp, and they were huddled around laptops, brainstorming designs for their final projects. One group was building a computer game that simulates the experience of going through life with depression and anxiety, while others were drafting plans for websites that track diversity at companies and help connect newly arrived immigrants with local community groups.

They were working intently when Reshma Saujani, the founder and chief executive of the nonprofit organization Girls Who Code, dropped in to offer some encouragement.

“How many of you take computer science class at your schools?” she asked. Hands shot up. “Are you the only girls in your class?” she asked. Most of the girls nodded.

Over the past five years, some 40,000 girls have learned to code through the organization’s summer camps and afterschool programs. But Ms. Saujani wanted to expand the group’s reach, and was looking for new ways to recruit girls into the tech industry.

Each Tuesday is EducationTuesday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts about educators and all things STEM. Adafruit supports our educators and loves to spread the good word about educational STEM innovations!